The Salmon Arm Silverbacks unleashed all their arsenal on the Victoria Grizzlies on Friday night, and while the Grizzlies nearly survived, they wilted at the end, allowing the Silverbacks to claw out a Game 1 victory in front of 1,231 hometown fans at the Shaw Centre.
After pummelling the Grizzlies with 12 shots in the first 10 minutes, the Silverbacks (30-23-5 in the regular season) needed a late third-period goal from Luke Mylymok to down the Grizzlies 2-1 and take a 1-0 series lead into Game 2 tonight at the Shaw Centre. Game 2 goes tonight in Salmon Arm.
Veteran netminder Liam Souliere did his best to keep the Grizzlies in the game early, and the Quebec native who’s headed to the NCAA and Penn State in the fall, succeeded as the Grizzlies went to the intermission with a 1-0 lead thanks to an Alex DiPaolo goal with five minutes left in the period.
The Silverbacks kept coming in the second and finally broke through at the 13-minute mark when Jeremy Gervais beat Souliere at the side of the net.
The Silverbacks got the game-winner with five minutes left in the third when Mylymok’s wrister from far out found its way past Souliere.
Souliere finished with 35 saves, while Ethan Langenegger turned aside all but one of the 24 shots he faced in the Silverbacks’ net.
After tonight’s game, the two teams get an off day Sunday for travel before playing Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Tuesday at The Q Centre.
